"This is rich and delicious holiday food, full of scrumptious flavor that is also healthful for the body, mind, and soul."~ from Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos, and Jorge Piñeda's Vegan Holiday Cooking from Candle Cafe

The seasonal cookbook is a familiar standard by now, and in Natural Color, designer and art professor Sasha Duerr takes a similar approach to crafting with natural dyes. An advocate for "slow fashion," Duerr guides you through the botanical palette of each season (including how to gather, grow, or buy the necessary plants) and provides dyed textile projects along the way. Elegant color photos capture the vivid hues created by avocado pits, red cabbage, and nettles (to name just a few). Advice on mordants and dyeing techniques rounds out this thoughtful volume, which will appeal to dedicated dye artists who share Duerr's passion for sustainability.

Similar to Ron Swanson, his character on TV's Parks and Recreation, actor and comedian Nick Offerman is a dedicated woodworker. In addition to performing, he runs Offerman Woodshop, a Los Angeles woodworking collective that produces a wide array of products, both practical (furniture, baseball bats) and whimsical (mustache combs, kazoos). Here, the Offerman Woodshop team shares a behind-the-scenes peek at how they work, complete with photo-illustrated instructions for their favorite projects, as well as humorous writings from Offerman himself. From complete newbies to seasoned masters, Good Clean Fun will bring a smile to the face of any woodworker.

Dressing yourself is a necessary adult skill, but it's not always easy to do well. If you've ever despaired over your wardrobe, this "fashion-forward guide that's awesomely sensible" (Publishers Weekly) might be the rescue you need. Created by style blogger Anuschka Rees, the book takes a minimalist approach to fashion, using workbook-style exercises and infographics to help you assess your clothing needs, identify your personal style, and build a small but versatile wardrobe. Though it's geared toward women, The Curated Closet's philosophy can be adapted by anyone looking to step up their style and streamline their closet. For further inspiration, try Alison Freer's How to Get Dressed.

Part biography and part guidebook, The Bold Dry Garden takes readers on a tour of the renowned Ruth Bancroft Garden in California while reflecting on the impact of Bancroft's trailblazing horticultural career. Planted in 1972, the Ruth Bancroft Garden represents the best practices in desert garden design and cultivation – practices which are described in detail for dry garden enthusiasts, alongside breathtaking photography of agave, bromeliads, houseleeks, and many more plants that thrive in dry conditions. Those who are motivated by Bancroft's example may also appreciate David Bainbridge's Gardening with Less Water.

As followers of the Joy of Kosher blog already know, accomplished cook Jamie Gellar is a go-to resource for real-world kosher culinary advice. What makes this inviting, upbeat volume perfect for holiday gatherings are the variations it offers, allowing you to alter a given dish -- dressing it up, dressing it down, or making it pareve -- so that it's tailored to the needs of your dining companions. Wine pairings complement a variety of dishes for everyday eating, Sabbath meals, and specific holiday gatherings, including tempting twists on traditional foods: who could resist Daddy's Deep Dish Potato Kugel or Sea-Salted Soft Challah Pretzel Rolls?

Feeding vegans and non-vegans together doesn't have to mean disappointment for one side of the table, at least not with this cookbook from the owner and chefs of high-end vegan restaurant Candle Cafe. Here, you'll find recipes for restaurant-quality fare made accessible to home cooks, all organized into menus for ten different holidays (religious, national, and otherwise). Dishes like rosemary portobello steaks and sweet potato latkes with almond crème fraiche are likely to please a variety of palates, though if you need a broader range, you may want to pick up The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook by fan-favorite Isa Chandra Moskowitz, which is hot off the presses this month.

Warm, fragrant baked goods are an important component of many holiday celebrations, yet they're often denied to those who need to monitor carbs, sugar, or gluten. Beloved baker Peter Reinhart and co-author Denene Wallace, however, have honed combinations of nut flours and natural sweeteners to produce quick breads, crusts, cookies, cakes, muffins, and other treats with zero gluten and a staggeringly low glycemic load. Though it requires a bit of know-how and is un-apologetically baking-centric (try Danielle Walker's Against All Grain Celebrations for a wider view), there's no denying the delicious results of this book, which Library Journal dubs "nothing short of amazing."